EU Road Fatalities Down By 11 Per Cent in 2010

The European Commission has released statistics which show EU road fatalities fell 11% in 2010.

The results still show varying results when comparing country to country, but most countries achieved reductions in the number of deaths over the past year. On top of the results are Luxembourg (33%), Malta (29%) Sweden (26%) and Slovakia (26%).

European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for Transport, said: "It is very encouraging that nearly all Member States have managed to significantly reduce their number of road deaths, but there is no room for complacency. A hundred people still die on Europe's roads every day. We have made good progress since 2001 and we have succeeded in saving nearly 100,000 lives. But the number of fatalities and injuries on our roads is still unacceptable. We want to cut the number deaths by half by 2020. For this we will be looking at what kind of cars people drive, where they drive and how they drive."

in July 2010, the Commission adopted plans with a target to reduce deaths on Europe's roads by half in the next ten years. Initiatives presented in the "European Road Safety Policy Orientations 2011-2020" include setting higher standards for vehicle safety, improving the training of road users and increasing the enforcement of road rules. The Commission is working closely with Member States to implement this programme.